Reading The Hunger Games: Book One
by KamlesWarren
Summary: Katniss, Haymitch, and Peeta along with a few others are transported to a room, on the day of the reaping, where they are to read a series of books called 'The Hunger Games'. Can they perhaps change the future by reading these? Please read!
1. The Future Lies In Your Hands

**Hey! This is my first Hunger Games fanfiction.. I decided to write this because the only other I found was really bad.. No offense.**

**So read and enjoy! I'll try to update asap :)**

**(Oh.. If you don't like the introduction story of how they get the books.. Oh well. The book reading will be in the next chapter... And if you have any suggestions about who should be there reading the books tell me)**

**People I have:**  
**Katniss**  
**Peeta**  
**Gale**  
**Prim**  
**Haymitch**  
**Finnick- Because I feel by reading this we can prevent his death**  
**Johanna- Same as Finnick**  
**Rue- Same **  
**Thresh- Same**  
**Cato- Because no one deserves a death as grusome as his**  
**Chaff- Because he is good friends with Haymitch**  
**President Snow- Without him there reading the books, nothing can change**

**(This is twelve people. And not all will speak much. Any others just tell me and I will check with my beta)**

**On with the story! Please review and if you don't like it, give me tips.. but don't stop reading!**

* * *

**Katniss's Point of View**

(Just so you know what's going on.. Katniss has just volunteered to be a tribute and Peeta is about to be drawn)

The hand of Effie Trinket plunges into the tank invaded with names of possible tributes.

"Peeta Mellark!", I watched as the boy walked idley the trip onto the stage, silently begging it to be anyone else.

Suddenly, an unknown force erases my contact with the floor beneath me and the surrounding world is spinning. The feeling is nauseating, blurred imagies cross my vision's path and a slight whooshing noise can be heard. Somewhere far off I hear a high pitched shriek.

"Prim!", I scream her name but the response never comes.

As the gravity in the world returns, my head collides with a rough surface and I slip under a cloud of darkness.

As I wake, I feel the itchy couch beneath me and am sharply aware of a dull pain penatrating from the back of my head. I can't remember what has happened, though I remember vaguely volunteering myself at the reaping and Peeta Mellark being my competitor. Am I already at the Capitol? Did I even get to say my goodbyes?

Opening my eyes, I shriek. Eleven people surround me most being strangers. My first instinct is to run but Prim and Gale standing near me stops me short.

"Wh-what's going on?", I stammer out. Taking in my surroundings.

All sitting on couches that are setted around a table are Peeta Mellark the other tribute from District 12. I furrow my eyebrows trying to understand. Beside him is Haymitch Abernathy my mentor for the games. Also in the room is an extremly handsom man yet not as young as I, a blond girl whose face is covered in annoyance, near Haymitch is another man about his age who seems to be laughing along with him. On another couch opposite the one with the blond girl sits a very young girl maybe Prim's age next to a man who is much bigger than her yet he seems kind enough. In single chairs I notice with slight fear the snake like eyes of President Snow, opposite of him is another man, very carrer looking.

I am not responded with an answer to my question but am handed a note by Haymitch. Glancing around the room all eyes are plastered on me as I take the folded letter from his hand and read:

_Dear Katniss, Peeta, Haymitch, Gale, Primrose, Finnick, Johanna, Chaff, Rue, Thresh, President Snow, and Cato:_

_In this room you will discover everything you will need to survive. I have placed you all here for one reason, to change the future. _  
_You all hold a part in the outcome of your future, and many of you will loose your life. By gathering you here I hope to prevent this.  
__One day while searching my library I happened across three books 'The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay'. In these books  
lies your lifes story. It is written in Katniss Everdeens point of you and all of your fates are told throughout them. When you have finished reading  
you will be transported back to finish your reaping and to travel to the Capitol. The future will lie in your hands, but without the agreement of  
President Snow nothing can change. You will also find that you are incapable of leaving this room untill the books are finished._

Thank you, Albus.

By the end of the letter I was breathing hard, and blinking profusely. Waiting for when I would wake up and be home agian. But the looks on my company's faces tells me this is no joke.

"So.. so we read?", I question still quite not understanding.

"That's exactly what were doing, Katniss.", I look at the man my response came from the handsom one. He introduces himself to me causing a chain reactions of hellos and hand shaking.

When everyone is settled, I feel less nervous but still a bit unsettled. Prims comforting hand sooths me, though.

"What does it mean 'The future lies in our hands' ", I ask even though I know exactly what it means.

"It means exactly what it says, brainless. We read these books or were stuck in here forever.", Johanna speaks I couldn't help but notice the accusation dripping from her voice.

As she says this Gale hands me a seemingly ancient book. The cover is painted in a thin layer of dust but you can easily read the title... 'The Hunger Games' .

"It's in_ your _point of view.. So you read first..", I glance at Peeta awkwardly as he says his first words since his introduction. He just nods his head toward the book.

In a shaky voice I read, "**The Hunger Games**".

* * *

**I hope you liked it! If not OH WELL! Review please! They will read the first chapter next chapter.. I'll try my best to make absolutely AMAZING! I beg you not to stop reading!**

**As soon as I post this I'm imediately going to start writing the next chapter and I mean like as soon as I press the submit button!**

**Review! And stay tuned for the next chapter which will be posted as soon as i'm finished! :)**

**Agian.. Review.**

**(Any ideas on others I should put in the room?)**

**P.S.- I've been looking for a story of the books in Haymitches Point Of View. If you find any point me in that direction, or maybe you could write one for me! **

**Thanks! Kamery Dawn Crosno**


	2. Part One: The Tributes Chapter 1

***Mentally shoots self for not updating sooner*  
**

**But hey, it's here now. Hopefully it's worth the wait.**

**As a act of asking for forgiveness, I bring you a JOKE!**

**Harry Potter Pick-up Line **

**-I'm not wearing an invisibility cloak, but do you think I could still visit your restricted section tonight?**

_** Katniss's Point of View. Omniscient. **_

* * *

"Part One, The Tributes," I began.

****

**********When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold. My fingers stretch out, seeking Prim's warmth but finding only the rough canvas of the mattress. She must have had bad dreams and climed in with our mother. Of course she did. This is the day of the reaping.**

"So, this is today? Or is it some other reaping?" Gale asked pointedly.

"I think it's today.. but I don't exactly keep up with my thoughts throughout the day."

**I prop myself up on one elbow. There's enough light in the bedroom to see them. My little sister, Prim, curled up on her side, cocooned in my mother's body, thier cheeks pressed together. In sleep, my mother looks younger, stil worn but not so beaten-down. Prim's face is as fresh as a raindrop, as lovely as the primrose for which she was named. My mother was very beautiful once, too. Or so they say.**

"She still is beautiful," Prim mutters softly.

**************Sitting at Prim's knees, gaurding her, is the world's ugliest cat. Mashed- in nose, half of one ear missing, eyes the color of rotting squash. Prim named him Buttercup, insisting that his muddy yellow coat matched the bright flower. He hates me. Or at least distrust me. Even though it was years ago, I think he still remembers how I tried to drown him in a bucket when Prim brought him home,**

"You did that!", Haymitch slurred.

"No wonder he distrust you, kid!" finished Chaff loudly while taking a swig of alcohol.

******************Scrawny kitten, belly swollen with worms, crawling with flees. The last thing I needed was another mouth to feed. But Prim begged so hard, cried even, I had to let him stay. It turned out okay. My mother's got rid of the vermin and he's a born mouser. Even catches the occasional rat. Somethimes, when I clean a kill, I feed Buttercup the entrails. He has stopped hissing at me.**

******************Entrails. No hissing. This is the closest we will ever come to love.**

Cato roars with laughter, along with the other men in the room.

**********************I swing my legs off the bed and slide into my hunting boots. Supple leather that has molded to my feet. I pull on trousers, a shirt, tuck my long dark braid up into a cap, and grab my forage bag. On the table, under a wooden bowl to protect it from hungry rats and cats alike, sits a perfect little goat cheese wrapped in basil leaves.**

"It's today," Both Gale and I said at the same time, we looked at each other and laughed quietly.

"How can you tell?" Peeta's face was unreadable.

"It was a gift from Prim."

**************************Prim's gift to me on reaping day. I put the cheese carefully in my pocket as I slip outside. **

**************************Our part of District 12, nicknamed the Seam, is usually crawling with coal miners heading out to the morning shift at this hour. Men and women with hunched shoulders, swollen knuckles, many who have long since stopped trying to scrub the coal dust out of their broken nails, the lines of their sunken faces.**

The natives of District 12 grimaced in the reality of this.

******************************But today the black cinder streets are empty. Shutters on the squat gray houses are closed. The reaping isn't until two. May as well sleep in. If you can. Our house is almost at the edge of the Seam. I only have to pass a few gates to reach the scruffy field called the Meadow. Separating the Meadow from the woods, in fact enclosing all of District 12, is a high chain-link fence topped with barbed-wire loops. In theory, it's supposed to be electrified twenty-four hours a day as a deterrent to the predators that live in the woods - packs of wild dogs, lone cougars, bears - that used to threaten our streets. But since we're lucky to get two or three hours of electricity in the evenings, it's usually safe to touch. Even so, I always take a moment to listen carefully for the hum that means the fence is live. Right now, it's silent as a stone. Concealed by a clump of bushes, I flatten out on my belly and slide under a two-foot stretch that's been loose for years. **

"Somebody call a peacekeeper-," started Chaff.

"-'Cause we gotta illegal poacher over here!" the two friendly drunks blurted happily.

President Snow opened his mouth to supposedly say something.. but it quickly clamped tightly together.

**There are several other weak spots in the fence, but this one is so close to home I almost always enter the woods here.**

**As soon as I'm in the trees, I retrieve a bow and sheath of arrows from a hollow log. Electrified or not, the fence has been successful at keeping the flesh-eaters out of District 12. Inside the woods they roam freely, and there are added concerns like venomous snakes, rabid animals, and no real paths to follow. But there's also food if you know how to find it. My father knew and he taught me some before he was blown to bits in a mine explosion. There was nothing even to bury. I was eleven then. Five years later, I still wake up screaming for him to run.**

My voice broke at the end. Although, this happened years ago I try to avoid thinking about it. Gale gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. He understood.

******Even though trespassing in the woods is illegal and poaching carries the severest of penalties, more people would risk it if they had weapons.**

"I know plenty who have weapons and don't dare go where you go, Katniss!" Peeta honestly looked angry. With confused furrowed brows I continued reading.

**********But most are not bold enough to venture out with just a knife. My bow is a rarity, crafted by my father along with a few others that I keep well hidden in the woods, carefully wrapped in waterproof covers. My father could have made good money selling them, but if the officials found out he would have been publicly executed for inciting a rebellion. Most of the Peacekeepers turn a blind eye to the few of us who hunt because they're as hungry for fresh meat as anybody is.**

"Lucky." The word echoes around the silent room, and I looked questionably at Rue.

Thresh explained, "The peacekeepers are much more strict in District 11."

Out of the corner of my eye I saw a slight movement of Snow's head. As if to say 'As they should'.

**In fact, they're among our best customers. But the idea that someone might be arming the Seam would never have been allowed.**

**In the fall, a few brave souls sneak into the woods to harvest apples. But always in sight of the Meadow. Always close enough to run back to the safety of District 12 if trouble arises. "District Twelve. Where you can starve to death in safety," I mutter.**

Gale snorted quietly with a smile. While Haymitch splashed Johanna with his drink from laughing so hard. Spitting out something sounding like 'spunk'.

Personally I don't find it _that _comical.

Then I glance quickly over my shoulder. Even here, even in the middle of nowhere, you worry someone might overhear you.

**When I was younger, I scared my mother to death, the things I would blurt out about District 12, about the people who rule our country, Panem, from the far-off city called the Capitol. Eventually I understood this would only lead us to more trouble. So I learned to hold my tongue and to turn my features into an indifferent mask so that no one could ever read my thoughts. Do my work quietly in school. Make only polite small talk in the public market. Discuss little more than trades in the Hob, which is the black market where I make most of my money.**

'Now girl, This is out of line! I have tolerated this long enough!" President Snow had risen from his seat. Snake-like eyes bore into mine. I feared he might strike me, but I didn't shrink away. I didn't want to appear weak, I stiffened awaiting a punishment. Two pairs of hands pulled Snow into his seat roughly landing him with a slight 'ooph'. Resting their hands in a tight grip on his shoulders.

Fortunately for Snow, he didn't speak. I had an uncomfortable feeling that Thresh and Finnick could break his neck as easily as Gale could set a snare.

**Even at home, where I am less pleasant, I avoid discussing tricky topics. Like the reaping, or food shortages, or the Hunger Games. Prim might begin to repeat my words and then where would we be? In the woods waits the only person with whom I can be myself. Gale. I can feel the muscles in my face relaxing, my pace quickening as I climb the hills to our place, a rock ledge overlooking a valley. A thicket of berry bushes protects it from unwanted eyes. The sight of him waiting there brings on a smile. Gale says I never smile except in the woods. **

Despite my previous scare with Snow, I turned my head slightly to give Gale a small smile.

**"Hey, Catnip," says Gale. My real name is Katniss, but when I first told him, I had barely whispered it. So he thought I'd said Catnip. Then when this crazy lynx started following me around the woods looking for handouts, it became his official nickname for me. I finally had to kill the lynx because he scared off game. I almost regretted it because he wasn't bad company. But I got a decent price for his pelt. **

**"Look what I shot," Gale holds up a loaf of bread with an arrow stuck in it, and I laugh. It's real bakery bread, not the flat, dense loaves we make from our grain rations.**

** I take it in my hands, pull out the arrow, and hold the puncture in the crust to my nose, inhaling the fragrance that makes my mouth flood with saliva. Fine bread like this is for special occasions. **

**"Mm, still warm," I say. He must have been at the bakery at the crack of dawn to trade for it. "What did it cost you?"**

**"Just a squirrel. Think the old man was feeling sentimental this morning," says Gale. "Even wished me luck." **

Peeta nodded his head knowingly. His father tended to be even more generous than normal on he day of the reaping.

**"Well, we all feel a little closer today, don't we?" I say, not even bothering to roll my eyes. "Prim left us a cheese." I pull it out. **

**His expression brightens at the treat. "Thank you, Prim. We'll have a real feast."**

Prim smiled toothily at Gale, "Anytime!"

He returned her welcome with a smile equally as large, and a ruffle to the hair.

**Suddenly he falls into a Capitol accent as he mimics Effie Trinket, the maniacally upbeat woman who arrives once a year to read out the names at the reaping. "I almost forgot! Happy Hunger Games!" He plucks a few blackberries from the bushes around us. "And may the odds -" He tosses a berry in a high arc toward me. **

**I catch it in my mouth and break the delicate skin with my teeth. The sweet tartness explodes across my tongue.**

"Nice description.", Cato snorted. I smiled half-heartedly at him. Most of us had never met before, but it was obvious that everyone in this room must have a role to play. Whatever was to happen in the future, we all would be part of it.

**"- be ever in your favor!" I finish with equal verve. We have to joke about it because the alternative is to be scared out of your wits. Besides, the Capitol accent is so affected, almost anything sounds funny in it. **

**I watch as Gale pulls out his knife and slices the bread. He could be my brother. Straight black hair, olive skin, we even have the same gray eyes.**

Rue looked us over, 'I see what you mean."

**But we're not related, at least not closely. Most of the families who work the mines resemble one another this way. **

**That's why my mother and Prim, with their light hair and blue eyes, always look out of place. They are. My mother's parents were part of the small merchant class that caters to officials, Peacekeepers, and the occasional Seam customer. They ran an apothecary shop in the nicer part of District 12. Since almost no one can afford doctors, apothecaries are our healers. My father got to know my mother because on his hunts he would sometimes collect medicinal herbs and sell them to her shop to be brewed into remedies. She must have really loved him to leave her home for the Seam.**

"She did," Haymitch's eyes were serious, which is a rare sight. I wanted to ask what he meant, but I didn't

**I try to remember that when all I can see is the woman who sat by, blank and unreachable, while her children turned to skin and bones. I try to forgive her for my father's sake. But to be honest, I'm not the forgiving type.**

"It's not her fault, Katniss! She was sad!" Prim balled her little hands into fist.

"So was I, and you too Prim, but I didn't just give up on everything; forget about everything, while you two lay around dying! She did! She sat around, not caring not doing anything. You could have died Prim, we all could have! It would have been her fault. How do you expect me to forgive her for that? How?" Tears blurred my vision.

Her eyes were puffy and fierce. She was about to say something else, but what it was I didn't find out. Peeta had ripped the book from my grip and started reading.

**Gale spreads the bread slices with the soft goat cheese, carefully placing a basil leaf on each while I strip the bushes of their berries. We settle back in a nook in the rocks. From this place, we are invisible but have a clear view of the valley, which is teeming with summer life, greens to gather, roots to dig, fish iridescent in the sunlight. The day is glorious, with a blue sky and soft breeze. The food's wonderful, with the cheese seeping into the warm bread and the berries bursting in our mouths. Everything would be perfect if this really was a holiday, if all the day off meant was roaming the mountains with Gale, hunting for tonight's supper. But instead we have to be standing in the square at two o'clock waiting for the names to be called out. **

I could almost feel the sun, as he read this. Though, perhaps I was still flushed from yelling at Prim. Reaching out I gripped her hand. She squeezed it, but didn't look up at me. I was sorry for yelling at her, but I just couldn't forget what our mother had done.

**"We could do it, you know," Gale says quietly. **

**"What?" I ask. **

**"Leave the district. Run off. Live in the woods. You and I, we could make it," says Gale.**

Haymitch interrupted Peeta, and stared at Gale. He shifted awkwardly beside me.

"You remind me of someone I used to know," looking past the drunken stuper and the intense stare. His face showed sadness.

I glanced at Gale, he looked just as confused as I did. No one spoke. Peeta's voice broke the silence.

**I don't know how to respond. The idea is so preposterous. **

**"If we didn't have so many kids," he adds quickly. **

"Kids?" questioned Johanna. I just shook my head.

**They're not our kids, of course. But they might as well be. Gale's two little brothers and a sister. Prim. And you may as well throw in our mothers, too, because how would they live without us?**

"Oh."

**Who would fill those mouths that are always asking for more? With both of us hunting daily, there are still nights when game has to be swapped for lard or shoelaces or wool, still nights when we go to bed with our stomachs growling. **

Finnick glanced at us sadly, but he didn't understand. The ones from richer districts had never experienced what it meant to be hungry, Hunger is a deadly poison.

**"I never want to have kids," I say. **

**"I might. If I didn't live here," says Gale. **

**"But you do," I say, irritated. **

**"Forget it," he snaps back. **

Again Gale shifted in his seat.

**The conversation feels all wrong. Leave? How could I leave Prim, who is the only person in the world I'm certain I love? And Gale is devoted to his family. We can't leave, so why bother talking about it? And even if we did . . . even if we did . . . where did this stuff about having kids come from? There's never been anything romantic between Gale and me.**

"I don't think he meant you," Johanna laughed along with the others. My face burned, I glanced at Gale and noticed that his cheeks were red, too.

Peeta pursed his lips irritated. He had always been watching Katniss from the sidelines, only wishing she would strike a conversation with him, but she never talked to anyone in school. Here she was, in the same room with, yet barely talking to him. Why did this boy get to have her, was it just because he was older? Maybe if he could..**( _AN- I will sometimes put other peoples thoughts into the story, When I do this it is not in Katniss's point of view. It will switch momentarily into 3rd person omniscient, then back to Katniss's point of view_)**

"Peeta?" Cato asked.

"Right. Sorry."

**When we met, I was a skinny twelve-year-old, and although he was only two years older, he already looked like a man.**

Again I felt my face grow hot.

**It took a long time for us to even become friends, to stop haggling over every trade and begin helping each other out. **

Gale chuckled, and grabbed a hold of my hand.

**Besides, if he wants kids, Gale won't have any trouble finding a wife. He's good-looking,**

Someone whispered in my ear, my eyes growing wide. "You really think so, Catnip?", I didn't respond. I don't think I could.

Peeta gritted his teeth. Did she think he was good-looking?

**he's strong enough to handle the work in the mines, and he can hunt. You can tell by the way the girls whisper about him when he walks by in school that they want him.**

"Do they?" Gale asked retoricaly. I nodded. "Odd. I've only ever heard whispering of you."

I smacked him hard on the arm, I couldn't tell if he was playing or not.

**It makes me jealous but not for the reason people would think. Good hunting partners are hard to find. **

**"What do you want to do?" I ask. We can hunt, fish, or gather. **

**"Let's fish at the lake. We can leave our poles and gather in the woods. Get something nice for tonight," he says. Tonight. After the reaping, everyone is supposed to celebrate. And a lot of people do, out of relief that their children have been spared for another year. But at least two families will pull their shutters, lock their doors, and try to figure out how they will survive the painful weeks to come. **

Everyone glanced around, who from their districts would be sentenced to death. Whose families would have to suffer, and watch their loved ones fight for their lives, with the odds in no ones favor.

**We make out well. The predators ignore us on a day when easier, tastier prey abounds. By late morning, we have a dozen fish, a bag of greens and, best of all, a gallon of strawberries. I found the patch a few years ago, but Gale had the idea to string mesh nets around it to keep out the animals. **

**On the way home, we swing by the Hob, the black market that operates in an abandoned warehouse that once held coal. When they came up with a more efficient system that transported the coal directly from the mines to the trains, the Hob gradually took over the space. Most businesses are closed by this time on reaping day, but the black market's still fairly busy. We easily trade six of the fish for good bread, the other two for salt. Greasy Sae, the bony old woman who sells bowls of hot soup from a large kettle, takes half the greens off our hands in exchange for a couple of chunks of paraffin. We might do a tad better elsewhere, but we make an effort to keep on good terms with Greasy Sae. She's the only one who can consistently be counted on to buy wild dog. We don't hunt them on purpose, but if you're attacked and you take out a dog or two, well, meat is meat. "Once it's in the soup, I'll call it beef," Greasy Sae says with a wink.**

Gale shook his head, smiling to himself. No matter how hard he tries to explain to his brother, that it's not really beef, he refuses to listen.

** No one in the Seam would turn up their nose at a good leg of wild dog, but the Peacekeepers who come to the Hob can afford to be a little choosier. When we finish our business at the market, we go to the back door of the mayor's house to sell half the strawberries, knowing he has a particular fondness for them and can afford our price. The mayor's daughter, Madge, opens the door. She's in my year at school. Being the mayor's daughter, you'd expect her to be a snob, but she's all right. She just keeps to herself. Like me. Since neither of us really has a group of friends, we seem to end up together a lot at school. Eating lunch, sitting next to each other at assemblies, partnering for sports activities. We rarely talk, which suits us both just fine. **

Katniss glanced at Gale, he and Madge didn't have the best relationship.**  
**

**Today her drab school outfit has been replaced by an expensive white dress, and her blonde hair is done up with a pink ribbon. Reaping clothes. **

**"Pretty dress," says Gale. **

**Madge shoots him a look, trying to see if it's a genuine compliment or if he's just being ironic.**

Gale muttered something that sounded suspiciously like 'genuine', but I couldn't be sure.

** It is a pretty dress, but she would never be wearing it ordinarily. She presses her lips together and then smiles. "Well, if I end up going to the Capitol, I want to look nice, don't I?" **

**Now it's Gale's turn to be confused. Does she mean it? Or is she messing with him? I'm guessing the second. **

"Looks like flirting to me.", I overheard Johanna not so whisper to Finnick.

"You know, I have to agree.", this bothered me more than I would like to admit. Did he really like Madge?

**"You won't be going to the Capitol," says Gale coolly. His eyes land on a small, circular pin that adorns her dress. Real gold. Beautifully crafted. **

Haymitch straightened in his seat. Could it really be?

**It could keep a family in bread for months. "What can you have? Five entries? I had six when I was just twelve years old."**

**"That's not her fault," I say. **

**"No, it's no one's fault. Just the way it is," says Gale. Madge's face has become closed off. She puts the money for the berries in my hand. "Good luck, Katniss." **

**"You, too," I say, and the door closes.**

Gale rolled his eyes, like Madge needed luck. Never needed tesserae a day in her life. **  
**

**We walk toward the Seam in silence. I don't like that Gale took a dig at Madge, but he's right, of course. **

"I knew it!", Gale shouted. When everyone looked at him weirdly, he explained. "You think Madge is a rich little snob."

"Gale, I never said that."

"Yes, you did."

"No. I didn't."

"Yes, you did actually."

I let it drop with a glare and a punch in the arm. Consequently, hurting myself, but I didn't let it show.

**The reaping system is unfair, with the poor getting the worst of it. You become eligible for the reaping the day you turn twelve. That year, your name is entered once. At thirteen, twice.**

Cato groaned, "Can't we just skip this we already know it!"

A few of the other men nodded.

"I disagree with big boy over there, I think we should read it all.", Thresh spoke up, and Rue giggled.

I still wondered why this tiny girl from district 11 was in this room, although it was obvious she would be a tribute, for now I could delay the inevitable.

** And so on and so on until you reach the age of eighteen, the final year of eligibility, when your name goes into the pool seven times. That's true for every citizen in all twelve districts in the entire country of Panem. But here's the catch. Say you are poor and starving as we were. You can opt to add your name more times in exchange for tesserae. Each tessera is worth a meager year's supply of grain and oil for one person. You may do this for each of your family members as well. So, at the age of twelve, I had my name entered four times. Once, because I had to, and three times for tesserae for grain and oil for myself, Prim, and my mother. In fact, every year I have needed to do this. And the entries are cumulative. So now, at the age of sixteen, my name will be in the reaping twenty times.**

"Twenty times?" little Rue asked. I nodded.

"That really is a lot. I only have one.", all I could do was shrug.

She was only twelve, and it was very unlikely she would be the one responsible for feeding her family.

** Gale, who is eighteen and has been either helping or single-handedly feeding a family of five for seven years, will have his name in forty-two times.**

Now Rues mouth fell agape.

She looked at Gale, and I'm sure she was thinking the same thing I was. It seemed already that Gale would be the seventy-fourth male Hunger Games tribute. Tears pricked at my eyes, and as much as I would want to go with him, I knew I would have to stay and take care of our families. **  
**

**You can see why someone like Madge, who has never been at risk of needing a tessera, can set him off.**

Gale face did some kind of twitch, like trying to snort and conceal a smile at the same time.

** The chance of her name being drawn is very slim compared to those of us who live in the Seam. Not impossible, but slim. And even though the rules were set up by the Capitol, not the districts, certainly not Madge's family, it's hard not to resent those who don't have to sign up for tesserae.**

Yeah, that weird face twitch. It's a smirk.**  
**

**Gale knows his anger at Madge is misdirected. On other days, deep in the woods, I've listened to him rant about how the tesserae are just another tool to cause misery in our district.**

Prim shook her head.

"What?" Gale asked.

"You know it's pointless, right?"

I had to laugh. Gale glanced between the two of us, eyebrows raised.

"That's what Katniss _Always _says.", we all laughed, everyone else joining in.

** A way to plant hatred between the starving workers of the Seam and those who can generally count on supper and thereby ensure we will never trust one another. "It's to the Capitol's advantage to have us divided among ourselves," he might say if there were no ears to hear but mine. If it wasn't reaping day. If a girl with a gold pin**

Again Haymitch wondered back to Maysilee. Could it really be the same pin. I seemed likely this little girl _was _her niece.

** and no tesserae had not made what I'm sure she thought was a harmless comment. **

**Gale and I divide our spoils, leaving two fish, a couple of loaves of good bread, greens, a quart of strawberries, salt, paraffin, and a bit of money for each. **

How dare these insignificant people treat me like this? Me! President of Panem. They should bow to me, love me, treat me with the utmost respect. No, they have the nerve to order me around. Threaten me. This Everdeen girl, and the rest of her idiot friends will Rue this day.

I'm not stupid, I will use this ounce of patients they have left me with, and wait. Then have them all executed. Give it the time, act now and these ignorant baboons with snap my neck. Give it the time.

**"See you in the square," I say. **

**"Wear something pretty," he says flatly.**

"Yeah. Wear something pretty Katniss!" Haymitch and Chaff snickered, mocking Gale and I.

My cheeks once again felt warm.

Peeta again wondered if Katniss ever noticed him. Maybe if he talked to her more. Stop watching from afar, and actually act.

On impulse he smiled at Katniss, "I think you always look pretty." then he realized this was a mistake judged by the laughter from around the room, and Katniss's glare.

My eyes widened, and the flesh below my eyes had to be glowing red. I narrowed my gaze into a glare, a suspicious one. I couldn't tell with that smile, sincere or was he simply poking fun.

Gale was suddenly aware of his hands clenched, sure he was used to guys looking at Katniss. Making futile attempts to flirt, that she didn't pick up on, but this was... different.

**At home, I find my mother and sister are ready to go. My mother wears a fine dress from her apothecary days. Prim is in my first reaping outfit, a skirt and ruffled blouse. It's a bit big on her, but my mother has made it stay with pins. Even so, she's having trouble keeping the blouse tucked in at the back.**

"You were bigger than I am now, when you were twelve.", Prim said.

"That's because your about as big as Dobby the house-elf. Same with little District 11 over there.", Johanna pointed out. I couldn't help but laugh, hey it was funny. Even Rue had a laugh about it. Prim crossed her arms and put on a silly little pout.

**A tub of warm water waits for me. I scrub off the dirt and sweat from the woods and even wash my hair. To my surprise, my mother has laid out one of her own lovely dresses for me. A soft blue thing with matching shoes. **

Peeta could already picture her in that blue dress, all too well. It made him smile.**  
**

**"Are you sure?" I ask. I'm trying to get past rejecting offers of help from her. For a while, I was so angry, I wouldn't allow her to do anything for me.**

Prim shook her head sadly. How she could ever stay mad so long, was beyond her.

** And this is something special. Her clothes from her past are very precious to her. **

**"Of course. Let's put your hair up, too," she says. I let her towel-dry it and braid it up on my head.**

"I love our braids." Gale whispered. I smiled, I loved my mothers braids, too.

** I can hardly recognize myself in the cracked mirror that leans against the wall. **

**"You look beautiful," says Prim in a hushed voice. **

"I bet you do." she said. Everyone agreed, and I found myself blushing.**  
**

**"And nothing like myself," I say. I hug her, because I know these next few hours will be terrible for her. Her first reaping. She's about as safe as you can get, since she's only entered once. **

I had to take a moment to allow myself to remember that. I was certain that of all the bad hat could ever happen in my life. Losing Prim to the Hunger Games would be the worst.

**I wouldn't let her take out any tesserae. But she's worried about me. That the unthinkable might happen. **

"Of course I am. Your my sister I love you." her little fingers wrapped around my hand. No one else said anything, they knew how it felt.**  
**

**I protect Prim in every way I can, but I'm powerless against the reaping. The anguish I always feel when she's in pain wells up in my chest and threatens to register on my face. **

"Always wearing a mask." Gale shook his head.

"It's not a crime to show emotions, Katniss.", Peeta told me. I wasn't sure what to say. It made me feel better, but I also wished they wouldn't say anything. That my thoughts could be mine, not everyone in this room.

"I know."

**I notice her blouse has pulled out of her skirt in the back again and force myself to stay calm. "Tuck your tail in, little duck," I say, smoothing the blouse back in place. **

**Prim giggles and gives me a small "Quack." **

Prim indeed giggled while everyone else gave a slight chuckle. **  
**

**"Quack yourself," I say with a light laugh. The kind only Prim can draw out of me. "Come on, let's eat," I say and plant a quick kiss on the top of her head.**

Everyone smiled at the rare light heartedness of the scene. It was nice to be a kid every once and a while.**  
**

**The fish and greens are already cooking in a stew, but that will be for supper. We decide to save the strawberries and bakery bread for this evening's meal, to make it special we say. Instead we drink milk from Prim's goat, Lady, and eat the rough bread made from the tessera grain, although no one has much appetite anyway. **

"Understandable, I guess." Cato said, he was one that never lost apatite, he could eat a whole cow and still have room for more, and a lot of the time he did. **  
**

**At one o'clock, we head for the square. Attendance is mandatory unless you are on death's door. This evening, officials will come around and check to see if this is the case. If not, you'll be imprisoned. **

**It's too bad, really, that they hold the reaping in the square - one of the few places in District 12 that can be pleasant. The square's surrounded by shops, and on public market days, especially if there's good weather, it has a holiday feel to it. But today, despite the bright banners hanging on the buildings, there's an air of grimness. The camera crews, perched like buzzards on rooftops, only add to the effect.**

"When I was little I used to pretend I was a super-star and that the camera's were filming me." Haymitch stare off into space. While everyone looked at him like he had gone mental. He seemed to come to some sort of realization.

"Oh. Wait. Did I say that out loud?" I couldn't help but notice that his cheeks looked a bit rosey. Could Haymitch Abernathy really be _blushing?_ He pointed his bottle out and shouted. "Obliviate!", we all had a hard laugh at his attempt to make a 'Harry Potter' reference.

"Just read, Peeta." he grumbled.

**People file in silently and sign in. The reaping is a good opportunity for the Capitol to keep tabs on the population as well. Twelve- through eighteen-year-olds are herded into roped areas marked off by ages, the oldest in the front, the young ones, like Prim, toward the back. Family members line up around the perimeter, holding tightly to one another's hands. But there are others, too, who have no one they love at stake, or who no longer care, who slip among the crowd, taking bets on the two kids whose names will be drawn.**

There was no need to comment. It was like this in most of the districts.

**Odds are given on their ages, whether they're Seam or merchant, if they will break down and weep. Most refuse dealing with the racketeers but carefully, carefully. These same people tend to be informers, and who hasn't broken the law?**

"Ah, the good 'ole nature of blackmail." Finnick sighed. He could use plenty of it if he wanted. All those secrets, he could rule Panem.

** I could be shot on a daily basis for hunting, but the appetites of those in charge protect me. Not everyone can claim the same. **

**Anyway, Gale and I agree that if we have to choose between dying of hunger and a bullet in the head, the bullet would be much quicker.**

Haymitch smiled widely. "Like I said, S.P.U.N.K!"**  
**

** The space gets tighter, more claustrophobic as people arrive. The square's quite large, but not enough to hold District 12's population of about eight thousand. Latecomers are directed to the adjacent streets, where they can watch the event on screens as it's televised live by the state. I find myself standing in a clump of sixteens from the Seam. We all exchange terse nods then focus our attention on the temporary stage that is set up before the Justice Building. It holds three chairs, a podium, and two large glass balls, one for the boys and one for the girls. I stare at the paper slips in the girls' ball. Twenty of them have Katniss Everdeen**

And only one with Prim's name, I reminded myself. She's safe.

** written on them in careful handwriting. Two of the three chairs fill with Madge's father, Mayor Undersee, who's a tall, balding man, and Effie Trinket, District 12's escort, fresh from the Capitol with her scary white grin, pinkish hair, and spring green suit. They murmur to each other and then look with concern at the empty seat. **

"Where have you wondered off to, Haymitch?" Chaff jokes. Haymitch shrugs. **  
**

**Just as the town clock strikes two, the mayor steps up to the podium and begins to read. It's the same story every year. He tells of the history of Panem, the country that rose up out of the ashes**

Cato grunted. "_Another _history lesson!" mostly everyone ignored him. But you could hear the distinct giggles of Prim and Rue.

** of a place that was once called North America. He lists the disasters, the droughts, the storms, the fires, the encroaching seas that swallowed up so much of the land, the brutal war for what little sustenance remained. The result was Panem, a shining Capitol ringed by thirteen districts, which brought peace and prosperity to its citizens. Then came the Dark Days, the uprising of the districts against the Capitol. Twelve were defeated, the thirteenth obliterated. The Treaty of Treason gave us the new laws to guarantee peace and, as our yearly reminder that the Dark Days must never be repeated, it gave us the Hunger Games. The rules of the Hunger Games are simple. In punishment for the uprising, each of the twelve districts must provide one girl and one boy, called tributes, to participate. The twenty-four tributes will be imprisoned in a vast outdoor arena that could hold anything from a burning desert to a frozen wasteland. Over a period of several weeks, the competitors must fight to the death. The last tribute standing wins. **

**Taking the kids from our districts, forcing them to kill one another while we watch - this is the Capitol's way of reminding us how totally we are at their mercy. How little chance we would stand of surviving another rebellion. ****Whatever words they use, the real message is clear. "Look how we take your children and sacrifice them and there's nothing you can do. If you lift a finger, we will destroy every last one of you. Just as we did in District Thirteen."**

By now most people were glaring at Snow. As much as they wanted to do, to him. They couldn't. That was almost even more bothersome than Snow himself. **  
**

**To make it humiliating as well as torturous, the Capitol requires us to treat the Hunger Games as a festivity, a sporting event pitting every district against the others. The last tribute alive receives a life of ease back home, and their district will be showered with prizes, largely consisting of food. All year, the Capitol will show the winning district gifts of grain and oil and even delicacies like sugar while the rest of us battle starvation. **

"It's not as great as you make it seem, winning. Really, not much is different. If anything, it's worse." Finnick said while the other champions in the room nodded gravely.

I didn't say a word. I wouldn't really be able to understand it, only someone who has lived through it could. I hoped I would never have to comprehend what Finnick had said.

**"It is both a time for repentance and a time for thanks," intones the mayor. **

**Then he reads the list of past District 12 victors. In seventy-four years, we have had exactly two. Only one is still alive. Haymitch Abernathy, a paunchy, middle-aged man,**

"Hey! I'm not paunchy!" and he proved my point by slurring together his words. A few people raise their eyebrows at him.

** who at this moment appears hollering something unintelligible, staggers onto the stage, and falls into the third chair. He's drunk. Very. The crowd responds with its token applause, but he's confused and tries to give Effie Trinket a big hug, which she barely manages to fend off. The mayor looks distressed. Since all of this is being televised, right now District 12 is the laughingstock of Panem, and he knows it.**

Everyone in the room had been trying to hold in laughter, when suddenly like a broken dam. It all pours out. Even Haymitch, who had been previously irritated, had to admit it _was _hilarious.

Finnick and Chaff gave him a big clap on the back.

President Snow sat back with wide eyes. The moment this were all over, he would personally break that beer bottle over the drunken fool's messy head.

**He quickly tries to pull the attention back to the reaping by introducing Effie Trinket. Bright and bubbly as ever, Effie Trinket trots to the podium and gives her signature, "Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor!" Her pink hair must be a wig because her curls have shifted slightly off center since her encounter with Haymitch. She goes on a bit about what an honor it is to be here, although everyone knows she's just aching to get bumped up to a better district where they have proper victors, not drunks who molest you in front of the entire nation. **

**Through the crowd, I spot Gale looking back at me with a ghost of a smile. As reapings go, this one at least has a slight entertainment factor. But suddenly I am thinking of Gale and his forty-two names in that big glass ball and how the odds are not in his favor.**

I grabbed Gale's hand. Knowing that most likely, he was going in the arena. He squeezed tightly, probably thinking the same.

** Not compared to a lot of the boys. And maybe he's thinking the same thing about me because his face darkens and he turns away. "But there are still thousands of slips," I wish I could whisper to him. It's time for the drawing. Effie Trinket says as she always does, "Ladies first!" and crosses to the glass ball with the girls' names. She reaches in, digs her hand deep into the ball, and pulls out a slip of paper. The crowd draws in a collective breath and then you can hear a pin drop, and I'm feeling nauseous and so desperately hoping that it's not me, that it's not me, that it's not me.**

Peeta stopped reading, as he had glanced down on the page and knew what unfortunate girl would be drawn. He glanced at Katniss a white hot pain bubbling in his stomach. He wasn't sure, but he hoped he was wrong. Katniss, no doubt would no doubt take her sister's place as tribute. Peeta could almost feel his heart being dragged out of his chest. He couldn't have Katniss die, die even before she knew how he felt.

"Peeta?" Rue nudged him with her elbow.

"Right."

He read the last few sentences in a hush. **  
**

**Effie Trinket crosses back to the podium, smoothes the slip of paper, and reads out the name in a clear voice. And it's not me. **

**It's Primrose Everdeen.**

"No!" I wrapped my arms tightly around Prim. Tears streamed from my eyes in melted puddles of salty rain. I couldn't loose my Prim. I just couldn't.

Gale longed to reach out and take Katniss in his arms, but he didn't. He knew she was scared she would lose Prim.

His mind raced, and his heart pounded freely. No one wanted Prim in the games, including Katniss, and that's what scared him the most.

He knew Katniss would never allow Prim to fight for her life. She would volunteer in Prim's place, and Gale would not be able to protect her, keep her safe from the other tributes. He knew she would never forgive him if he volunteered to go with her. He had to keep their families fed, and safe.

* * *

**Er.. I realize _now. _That in the previous chapter it began with Katniss already on stage, but I like this ending.. So if you could just overlook that little mistake, I would be ever so grateful :)**

**Well? Did I live up to your expectations? Please, review! I'll do my best to update sooner this time. **

**If you have any thing you would like to see in the story, tell me.  
**

**And another JOKE!**

**2.)Do you want to head to the Shrieking Shack? We could do some shrieking of our own.**

**3.)I know we're not in Professor Flitwick's class, but you still are charming.**

**Thanks much! Kamery Dawn Crosno  
**


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